Pages

THE RINGETTE STORY

Ringette is a Canadian game that was invented by Sam Jacks in 1963. As the Recreation Director for North Bay, Ontario, he felt that there was a need to get more girls involved in team sports. He came up with the concept of a straight stick that could carry a ring to be shot into the opponent’s net.

From this foundation, Ringette has developed into a fast-paced, strategic team sport that is played on ice. Since its inception, Ringette spread across Canada, province by province, until 1986 when the North West Territories formed a Ringette Association.

Today, there are over 30,000 registered players across Canada, competing in a variety of age divisions and levels. The first National championships for Ringette were played in 1979, the first World Ringette Championships were played in 1990, the first year that Ringette was included in the Canada Winter Games was 1991 and the National Ringette League of Canada was launched in 2004.

Ringette’s popularity now extends beyond the Canadian borders and is played in eight other countries including: Finland, Sweden, USA, Slovakia, France, Czech Republic, Russia and even the United Arab Emirates. The game was first introduced to other countries back in 1979 when a Canadian team travelled to Finland to demonstrate the sport.

The International Ringette Federation was formed in 1986 with Canada, Finland, France, Sweden and the United States as founding members. The first World Ringette Championships were held in Gloucester, Ontario, Canada in 1990 with a Team from Alberta claiming the gold.

Since then, the World Championships have been held fairly consistently every two or three years, in different locations including Canada, Finland, USA, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Canada and Finland have developed quite a rivalry dating back to the first WRC, each having claimed about half of the titles. In 2009, the first U19 (junior) World Ringette Championships were played in Prague, Czech Republic with Finland claiming the first gold medal. In 2013, the World Championships combined the senior and junior levels so that they are played at the same time.